What can YECs and OECs agree upon? By "OEC" I mean to include all those
Christians, including me, who find the scientific claims of ICR, AIG,
etc. without merit and see Genesis as teaching us, primarily, WHO was our
creator. Some OEC's try to find historicity in Genesis (like my friend
Glenn Morton), and that's fine; others (like me) would be pleased to find
historicity but do not consider a search for such all that important.

I offer the following and invite comments. I did not write it but I think
I can endorse it.
--------------------------
Peace Proposal Between Old Age and Young Age Christian Creationists

Recognizing that a believer in Jesus Christ may be wrong about certain
points of doctrine and other facts about reality and still be a believer,

And recognizing that God has chosen to do his work through fallible and
weak human beings, such that He is often found to be using people who are
imperfect and subject to human foibles, (for example, Jonah and Peter),

And further recognizing that it is possible to agree on certain points
and cooperate in certain tasks with those who may disagree with us on
other points, even though the points of disagreement may be quite
substantial,

And in view of the Scriptural admonitions to love one another, speak the
truth in love and come humbly to a brother overtaken in a fault,

We consider it important that a peace be made between the old and young
age Creationists, which does not minimize the differences and does not
stifle dialogue but acknowledges points of agreement and establishes
Scripturally sound principles for interaction.

In view of all this, we prayerfully ask YOUNG AGE CREATIONISTS to commend
and pray for the courageous old age creationists who are standing up in
the secular marketplace, pointing their colleagues and other seekers to
the hope beyond the material world and clearly owning their own
allegiance to the Creator. The Lord uses many methods and avenues to draw
precious souls to Himself and Jesus said that those who were not against
Him were for Him when the disciples questioned the qualifications of
others claiming to work in His name.

An old universe, even if it is considered by young agers to be a "worst
case scenario," still points to a creator and this fact can be used by
the Holy Spirit to lead some people to surrender their lives to the Lord
Jesus Christ. Starting a conversation with an unbeliever who accepts the
"Big Bang" and showing that it logically leads to a beginning and also to
the need for an external cause may break down some barriers and be
sufficient to provoke some individuals to move in the direction of
intellectual honesty and openness to spiritual realities.

In view of all this, we prayerfully ask OLD AGE CREATIONISTS to commend
and pray for the courageous young age creationists who stand not only
against philosophic materialism but also against scientific orthodoxy.
Understanding the history of science to be filled with the rise and fall
of theories and occasional reversals of what was once accepted as
unquestionably true, it is prudent to not dismiss heterodox
interpretations as automatically false, even if they provoke scorn from
the establishment. One example being the switch from nearly universal
dismissal of "continental drift" to the nearly universal acceptance of
"plate tectonics."

A young Universe needs to be acknowledged as, at the very least,
compatible with the language of Scripture if not the only possible
explanation. It needs to be acknowledged as well that the Scriptural and
doctrinal concerns of the young agers are genuine and need to be
addressed within those disciplines.

Calling for a humility that comes only from a walk of obedience and trust
in our Creator and Redeemer, we prayerfully ask both sides to vow before
the Lord a willingness to lay aside personal pride and past hurts in
order to further the Kingdom of our Lord Jesus Christ. We call for a
willingness to truly listen and genuinely love, and beyond that, the
courage to change opinions and positions if the facts warrant.

Burgy

www.burgy.50megs.com/fracture.htm (Review of THE FRACTURE OF GOOD ORDER)

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Received on Wed Jan 28 11:55:43 2004